Painted Flowers

Chapter 6 - Everything Changes

The ever-so-slowly rising sun cast long shadows across the mountainous territory of the Pack of Falling Ash. Silhouettes of three hunters stood out among the rocks, each one of them focused on picking out of the air any trace of the impala herd. One of the dogs suddenly flicked an ear, a scent trail detected, and her friends followed close behind, down the cliffside and into the savanna.

At a brisk trot, Feoria led Zahra and Zain through the grass as it sloped upwards onto a hill, but her mind was still buzzing with confusion on the task that was assigned to them hours earlier.

"I don't get it," the princess spoke out. "Why would Kwasi send you guys off on a hunting trip? Just the pair of you can't take down an impala."

Her lanky, dark-furred friend frowned at her. "Something about how we need to 'prove our worth'. He gave us a lecture on how we and the other yearlings failed yesterday when the herd was here. He said we were useless, and might as well have not been there. We probably won't catch anything this time, either, but he insisted we go." Zahra sighed. "Well, at least you're with us now."

"If the other yearling hunters were there too, why didn't he yell at them? Not every hunt is a success. He puts you two to work so much that you've 'proven your worth' long ago."

Feoria pictured her brash, easily-angered brother, snarling at the siblings. Kwasi was far quicker to place the blame of failure on the two "wanderers" before any "pure-blooded" Ash dog. She glanced back at Zain, who was trailing behind, watching his paws expressionlessly. Neither of them responded.

Frustration coursed through Feoria's veins. She rushed forward and blocked the path, forcing the two littermates to halt. "He needs to stop treating you both like you're some kind of dirty outsiders. Why do you put up with that?"

Zahra just stared at her, as if surprised Feoria was upset by such a normal occurrence. "What else can we do? He's the prince. I guess he can make us do whatever he wants."

The twins had been born to a lone passerby who abandoned them in Ash territory, assuming that they would take the innocent lives under their care and raise them as pack dogs. Feoria couldn't understand their discrimination for a matter they couldn't help, especially given that dogs of all bloodlines should have made a pack diverse and stronger. She didn't really entertain Kwasi's point of view--though, admittedly, she could stand to speak up against him more often. 

Their mother simply would not, or could not care for them any longer and didn't want her two puppies to fall to whatever fate she had. Why did it matter if she was a wanderer or a pack dog? They could hunt and contribute to the pack just like anyone else.

Feoria asked, "Doesn't your foster mother notice, at least? Does she care?"

Zahra flicked an ear. "Cyrah disowned us the day we were weaned--you know that, right?"

Feoria's jaws parted to respond, but a distant rumbling sound made the trio lift their ears in surprise. Looking down from the hill and into the valley, they spotted the impala herd a horizon away, stampeding. What had provoked them was not entirely clear, until the silhouette among the dust drawn up by dozens of hooves made itself seen: a single dog, keeping up with the herd as best they could.

Feoria shared a glance with Zahra and Zain, and it was obvious that they were thinking the same thing: this stranger was not going to make a catch. What exactly did they think they were doing within Ash territory? It was so rare that wanderers dared to enter occupied land, especially to track a herd with no other packmates to help. It was practically impossible for a solo dog to catch anything larger than a rabbit; that was just a fact.

Thanks to this dog stirring up the prey, the three Ash hunters needed to break into an immediate sprint to catch up. And so they did, tearing down the hill at top speed, easily outpacing the lone dog and targeting the closest doe.